Latvia issues airspace threat alert in Krāslava and activates NATO fighter jets

The Latvian National Armed Forces (*Nacionālie bruņotie spēki*, NBS) issued a warning on Monday night regarding a possible airspace threat in the Krāslava municipality, located in the country's southeast near the border with Belarus and just a few kilometers from Russia. The alert was in effect starting at 10:05 PM local time. Simultaneously, fighter jets from NATO's Baltic Air Policing mission were activated.

The alert level is "yellow" (*dzeltenais brīdinājums*). The official message to residents was clear: "Possible threat in the airspace of Krāslava municipality. Be prepared." No extra action is required for now. If the situation changes, a cell-broadcast will go out with instructions. The NBS stated that it and NATO allies continuously monitor the airspace and have reinforced air defenses along the eastern border with additional units. While Russia’s war against Ukraine continues, it said, foreign drones can again approach or enter Latvian airspace.

Krāslava sits in Latgale, the strip of Latvia that has lived under this routine for months. Alerts have gone out in Alūksne, Balvi, Ludza and Rēzekne. Some drones have crashed and exploded on Latvian soil; NATO fighters have shot others down. Investigators have linked most incidents to unmanned aircraft from the Russia–Ukraine war that drift off course — Ukrainian drones heading for Russian targets, or Russian systems affected by electronic warfare. In March a Ukrainian-origin drone entered from Russia and came down near Dobročina, in the same municipality now under warning. In June French jets on Baltic Air Policing shot down a UAV over the Rēzekne area after it crossed from Russia.

Tonight’s sequence fits a wider Baltic and Polish night. Poland has spent the past week scrambling F-16s as Russian jet-powered drones hit western Ukraine a few kilometers from NATO territory. Latvia’s yellow warning is a notch below a full shelter order: people are told to stay alert, not yet to go to a two-wall shelter. The military has not named the object, its nationality or whether it entered sovereign airspace. Until a higher-level broadcast arrives, the official line is: watch the phone, do not approach anything low-flying or suspicious, call 112 if you see it.